800 vs 900 quirks??

[bikeaholic]

ok........the 900 has been out long enough for you guys to figure out most of the quirks or shortcomings these bikes have.the 800 has been around for a while too and we have many owners here (i owned one too)

which bike do you thinks has the most quirks or shortcomings???
the 800 or the 900?? what are they?? are they major or minor??

you'll prolly have to base your opinions on what you have read/heard/seen
on one or the other as i doubt you'll own both.
based on everything ive read about the 900 since it appeared here and since owning a 800 for 2 years.....i think the 900 has a slight lead in owner problems/complaints

what do you guys/girls think??

[Spok]

one quirk...

the 900 is selling like hotcakes

[Tbone800b]

The quirk I had with the stock bike was the cold nature and farting through the intake. Removing the smog stuff, proper jetting, HiFive intake, and Cruizers solved that.

[The Vol-can]

Biggest quirk I've found is not enough miles in the saddle, but that goes for either model, I suppose.

[yooper cruiser]

I've discovered an odd quirk that affects people in close proximity to my 900.
Turnhead syndrome.
Happens to people on both sides of the street as I ride by

[Oz Saki]

Boy you got that right on turning heads!!!!!
My 06 Shadow Spirit never did that!
Very satisfied I made the change, sweet ride!!!

[VindianaJones]

ok........the 900 has been out long enough for you guys to figure out most of the quirks or shortcomings these bikes have.the 800 has been around for a while too and we have many owners here (i owned one too)

which bike do you thinks has the most quirks or shortcomings???
the 800 or the 900?? what are they?? are they major or minor??

you'll prolly have to base your opinions on what you have read/heard/seen
on one or the other as i doubt you'll own both.
based on everything ive read about the 900 since it appeared here and since owning a 800 for 2 years.....i think the 900 has a slight lead in owner problems/complaints

what do you guys/girls think??

Having owned both, i'd say that if you had looked at the 800 ( when it was still a newcomer to the market ) you probably would have seen as many or more problems with it. The 900 will still have lots of guys talking about probs because its still quite new to the market but i have to say that ( for me ) the 900LT wins hands down in the satisfaction dept. The 800 drive chain was always a pain in the butt because of lube and cleaning. The 800 had the same probs as the 900 with pplz talking about hands falling asleep. The 800 and 900 both had the same type of uncomfortable seat. 800 is carbed while 900 is F.I. 800 is chain while 900 is belt. Ok now on to the things i liked about both. The 800 has alot of balls for a small bike. Its also very easy to do all kinds of mods or customizing. The 800 had storage on the sides of the bike due to the side covers. The 900 is very fast for its size, has some storage under the seat for tools. Its has a belt ( a better system that a chain in my Opinion ) I love the stock floorboards. The pass. Backrest is great. I like the windshield. The seat is much better now with my Gel pad. The F.I. is miles ahead of carbed in my opinion. Something else i love is that the 900 has the look of a bigger bike without the added weight or pricetag. No matter what you do to an 800, it still looks like an 800. Ok, for all you guys with 800's, please don't bother to flame me because i loved my 800. I am, however, glad that i bought the 900LT and don't regret it at all. Oh and i have to agree about the headturning thing. Whats really funny i when i'm riding through the city and i have pplz roll down they're window to get a better look and tell me how much they like my bike. Its a real ego booster.
Hope that helps you out dude.

[ks_greg]

Haven't yet found anything wrong w/ the 900 that couldn't be resolved.
1. Gel Seat
2. Front Pulley

Maybe I'm lucky, but I've never had the "sleeping hands" vibration problem.
She really smoothed out after about 1000 miles or so. Probably why I never put on ISO grips. I went 150 miles the other day w/ no discomfort.

[hharada]

Like Vindiana Jones, I've owned both a VN800 and a VN900. The 800 was an '02 Classic and the 900 is an '07 Classic LT. I haven't been a rider that long. I bought the 800, used, in '04 and it was my first bike. In the three years I had the 800, I put about 10,000 miles on it including rides of 1,820 and 1,490 miles. I've had the 900 since August, this year, and have taken only one long (910 miles) ride on it so far. The 900 has 2,050 miles on it right now.

The main reasons I moved to the 900 have held true in the short time I've had it. Those reasons were and still are: fuel injection, belt drive, disc brakes front and rear, more power, and floor boards. I found it amazing that the five major drawbacks I felt the 800 had were fixed in the 900. It was like Kawasaki asked me what disappointed me most in the 800 and corrected those problems in the 900.

Two problems they only partially corrected were the 800's terrible seat and the high revs at Interstate speeds. Two other problems I saw in the 800 -- tubed tires and lack of a tach, unfortunately weren't even partially resolved in the 900. I like the spokes and would have liked a move to tubeless while retaining the spokes.

After I got the 900 and rode it a little, I found Kawasaki had fixed a problem I had with the 800 that I probably wouldn't have remembered to list. They put a good headlight on the 900 in place of the awful one on the 800. The reflector/lens combination on at least my 800, produced bands of light and many areas of darkness. I tried putting a Silverstar in, but that only exaggerated the problem. I then had very bright bands of light and the dark areas looked even darker. I ended up resolving that problem by installing a light bar.

Two short comings of the 800, which I hadn't recognized because it was my first bike -- the busy, choppy ride on straight, high-speed highways, and non-precise handling of highly curved mountain roads were greatly improved in the 900.

Don't get me wrong. The 800 is a great bike! For me, at least, as a first-timer, it gave me handling characteristics leaning toward the 250's and 500's which are usually the first thoughts of a newbie with expected trepidations, yet had the flexibility to admirably handle the 1,820 and 1,490 mile rides. It had enough power to handle all the Interstates and highways I ran into in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, at or above the speed limits as long as I stayed aware of the speedometer and kicked it into fourth on the steeper ones. Possibly even more important, it had enough blings to cause pride and enough heft to constantly remind me that biking is serious business and demanded a lot of care. Pride and reminders which possibly wouldn't be so strong with a seemingly less serious 250 or 500. These constant feelings and reminders allowed me 10,000 miles and three years of enjoyment during which I only gently laid the bike down once when, weak minded, I cranked the handlebars to their stop while moving the bike on the driveway with me alongside instead of straddling the bike and two instances I would call close calls -- one when the exit I wanted came up faster than expected and the second, late at night/very early in the morning when an obviously inebriated and possibly upset young woman, took off from a stop sign as I was passing by and would have clipped my rear if I hadn't been watching her and cranked the throttle wide open when I saw her move from the stop sign too soon. (Knocking on wood.)

The 900 handles the hills mentioned above, staying at the speed limit in fifth gear and can accelerate on those hills without shifting down. After a very brief warmup, the 900 drops out of fast idle and runs smoothly in the coldest of mornings I ridden it so far. I don't have to worry that I'm not lubing the chain at the ridiculously short intervals recommended in the 800's owner's manual and not getting all oily and dirty like when I did lube the chain. My earlier admiration of shaft drives has been severely dampened by what seem reliable reports of the significant horsepower shafts soak up. While I never had problems stopping the 800, but with the 900 I'm not periodically adjusting the linkage for the rear drum brake and then too shortly after, wonder why my pedal travel is so much more than what it was right after the linkage adjustment. I'm planning to put highway pegs on the 900, but truthfully am not sure how much I'll use them. The floor boards are really great.

On my 1,820 mile ride on the 800, with the factory seat, after the first 100 miles, I was constantly moving around on the seat -- forward, back, forward, back, sideways, middle, forward, middle, forward, back, middle, try the other side, lay back on the luggage strapped to the sissy bar (since I was alone, I strapped the sissy bar bag to the front of the bar, resting on the passenger seat, in order to keep the weight closer to the bike's center and in doing that found I had a great rest to lean back on. Stop and walk around, to try and get my flattened bottom to work itself out. Back on the bike -- forward, back, center, sideways.....The first thing I did when I got back from that trip was order a Mustang!

My 1,489 miler, with the Mustang, went much better. Covered 210 miles non-stop right after a 124 mile stretch. Although the Mustang fit me tighter to the point I couldn't move around much there was no great need to. Loved that seat!

Though obviously a much shorter ride, the factory seat on the 900 didn't cause near the discomfort during the 910 miles. I'm not sure how much different the 900LT seat is from that on the 900 Custom or Classic, but it's noticeably more comfortable than my '07 800's. I am, however, going to put on a Mustang or Corbin before a 3,000+ miler I'm starting to form in my mind.

One troublesome fault in my 800 wasn't because of the machine. I mentioned I had bought it used. The previous owner had put on a set of drag pipes. I've been a hot rodder most of my life. My biggest project was when my dad and I, as a teenager, dropped a hemi into my '48 Merc convertible which I still have. That car has home built headers, quad exhausts, four mufflers and four Racket Busters!! I've "tweeked" every car I, my wife, and kids ever had and exhaust systems were usually the first thing I would tackle. I love the rumble and purr of power, but my 800 was too damn loud!! Annoying, obnoxious racket from a vehicle, to me, is the signal of a person insecure in either him/herself or their vehicle, trying to impose him or herself on other people in an effort to cover their real or perceived inadequacies. My 900, on the other hand, is too quiet. I wish it had more rumble, but it has solved the problem I had with the 800 in cities like Denver and Colorado Springs, locally, which have initiated overly strong legal reaction to complaints from their citizens over the mindless idiots who roar through the streets and blast their pipes at stop lights or even while parked at all hours of the night and day. Noise so loud that people around a lunch or dinner table can't hear each other talk. Over reaction -- yes -- but what can these cities do when its citizens, their kids, their newborns, their 90 year old parents are woke up -- even at 1 or 2 in the morning -- by mindless blasting outside their homes? Done by idiots who are invading the privacy of helpless citizens, on a lesser scale, yes, but just as real as a bully thug busting through someone's door with a club, knife or gun. Only a few of us, you say? True, but a festering sore for all of us. I felt so bad of my part in the problem, with the 800, that I was starting to look around to change my pipes. Instead, I bought the 900 and solved the problem -- a little too much!

On the open road, the 900, in comparison to the 800, rides like a luxury limousine except for the engine noise and wind buffetng! It's more stable, more comfortable, has more reserve power, and handles pavement cuts, crosswinds, wet roads, and blasts from big rigs better. It dives into and comes out of curves on a twisty mountain road more like a Porsche compared to the 800 which I'd liken to a '70's Challenger (my Mopar leanings showing). My 800 had a Memphis shade and while there was wind buffeting, not near as much as I'm experiencing behind the 900 LT's Kawasaki windshield. My 900 doesn't seem to come off the line as well as my 800 did and seems to noticeably flatten out more at the top end. The 800 was plain scarey off the line! The engine on the 900 is very noisy. I can't compare it with the engine noise of the 800 because I couldn't hear the 800's engine above the noise from the drag pipes. I was so concerned with the 900's engine noise that I asked the dealer to check it out, but after they road tested it, told me the sounds were normal for the 900. I'm getting better gas mileage on the 900. Averaging around 52 mpg to te 800's 42. Three stretches on the 900's 910 miler hit 59 mpg!! In my opinion, the 900 would be helped greatly with a smaller front sprocket, a six-speed box, better air intake, and a freer flowing exhaust. The 900 is a beautiful machine, appearing much larger and heavier than it is. The first comments I get from both friends and strangers are along the lines of, "It's beautiful and so big!!" It seems to attract the attention of all who pass by. I'm however, disappointed in all the plastic! Plastic fenders, plastic chrome, plastic this and that. In addition to the plastic's "fakiness", I'm concerned at how all that plastic will hold up. How will my 900 look and hold together eight or ten years from now? At 66, the 900 will probably be my last bike.

I apologize for all my rambling, but hope you find something of interest or help.

[REFUGIO]

WOW....Now that's a mouthfull.....LOL

[rldowns3]

One nice thing about the plastic though....it dosen't rust and it's cheap to replace or just throw away if you're into the bobbers look.

I have the 900 custom. I looked at the LT and the custom and I wanted the looks of the custom but I wanted some of the capabilities of the LT. So I bought my custom and am adding a few accessories to get a bike somewhere between.

I am very happy with the 900 custom. It handles great. Takes a corner much better than a Sportster IMHO. While I don't think it's handling was quite as good as my 03 VN750, it is close. Compared to the 800, I think the 900 comes out on top. A gentleman at work has the 800B, and while it is a nice bike it is just.....plain looking even after adding some accessories. It also requires more maintenance than the fuel injected, belt driven 900. (although IMHO the 750 totally won in the maintenance department compared to the 900 and 800).

I wouldn't knock the 800 though, it'll keep pace and ride anywhere I ride but it is a bit more gas thirsty than my 900. Plus at varying altitudes the carbed 800 looses out to the 900 especially (some of you might know this personally) if you are going through someplace like Donner Pass going into or out of california.

Could the 900 use some improvements? Well sure, as could any bike. I'm just about sick of seeing the same turn signals on every bike, getting boring in the lighting department. It could have definately used a 6 speed transmission and at least on the custom they could have been a bit more creative on the foot pegs for both the passenger and driver. A tachometer would have been nice to have from the factory. Well, to be honest I prefer gauges to the idiot lights on the instrument cluster that is on the tank. The factory pipes are a bit on the large side for those that were wanting to add some soft bags, it makes aftermarket pipes basically a necessity if you want softies on the custom. Not a problem for the LT though. And lastly, that fricken horn that it comes with.....annoying....should have left it on Herbie the VW Beetle they got it off of. Definately getting a new horn.

I think I will definately keep my 900 for a very long time. It is an awsome bike.

[hharada]

Sorry about the lengthly dissertation. If it had been my "mouthful" it wouldn't have been nearly so long. I'm usually pretty quiet. My problem is when I start writing. I've been told many times to learn to be more concise, but being retired, I no longer have to rewrite to please my boss!

[gbfromsd]

re: chromed plastic

take a look at any '70s bike and you'll find the only surfaces still shiny are the plastic parts. Ten thousand years from now a geologist will uncover a turn signal cover from our time and be able to see themselves in it.

[hharada]

I hope what you say is correct. If so, today's chromed plastic is better than the chromed plastic on my '67 Charger and '72 B300 Dodge van. A lot of the chromed plastic on those vehicles have significant area which now show the tan colored plastic underneath the chrome and those pieces weren't exposed to the heat some of the 900's chromed plastic pieces are being exposed to.

There also seems to be more than a few threads at this site discussing problems with the 900's fenders and things attached to those fenders.

A little worried -- that's all